The Malagasy ariary
Currency · MGA · Ar · 1 country
Banky Foiben'i Madagasikara issues the ariary, which had been printed on Malagasy notes beside the franc since 1961 and became Madagascar's official unit on 1 January 2005. One ariary was worth five francs. Its fraction is a fifth, the iraimbilanja, and both names come from the money used before colonial rule.
The abbreviation
Ar is short for ariary. Banky Foiben'i Madagasikara writes it before the figure and after it, Ar 10 000 in one place and 20 000 Ar in another. The name itself comes from the Spanish real, which in Madagascar named a silver dollar before colonial rule.
- ISO code
- MGA
- ISO number
- 969
- Subunit
- iraimbilanja, 1/100
An amount, written out
Ar 1,234
- Ar 1,234English
- 1 234 ArFrenchMadagascar
In English the sign comes before the amount. Where the Malagasy ariary is used, it comes after the amount in Madagascar.
Where the Malagasy ariary is the official currency
Madagascar uses the ariary by itself. The central bank's statute of 2016 names it the monetary unit of the Republic and keeps the iraimbilanja as a denomination.
About the Malagasy ariary
Where the names come from
Ariary comes from the Spanish word real and was the name of a silver dollar. Iraimbilanja means "one iron weight" and named an old coin worth a fifth of an ariary. When the 2 franc coin appeared in 1965 it carried a third old name, venty sy kirobo, taken from nineteenth-century words for a sixth and a quarter of a silver dollar or five franc piece. Five twelfths of five francs comes to about two.
How the franc gave way
The Institut d'Émission Malgache issued its first notes in 1961 by overprinting notes of the Bank of Madagascar and Comoros. Each carried a franc value from 50 to 5,000 and an ariary value in the overprint. On the regular notes of 1963 to 1969 the ariary appeared only in words.
Ordinance 73-025 of 12 June 1973 created the Banky Foiben'ny Repoblika Malagasy and handed it the issue. After a referendum in December 1975 proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Madagascar, the bank took its present name.
The balance between the two units then shifted back and forth. Coins of 10 and 20 ariary struck in 1978 showed no franc value at all. Notes of 1993 put the ariary in large numerals, and a 1998 issue went back to franc numerals only. From 31 July 2003 the ariary was the prominent figure, with the franc in small print, and on 1 January 2005 the franc ceased to be the official currency.
What the central bank's statute says
Law 2016-004 of 29 July 2016 sets out the bank's statute. Its article 8 names the ariary as the monetary unit of the Republic and allows the iraimbilanja, worth a fifth of an ariary, as a denomination. The bank alone may issue notes and coins, and only those are legal tender in Madagascar. Its first objective is the internal and external stability of the currency.
Why the current notes drew complaints
The current series, themed on Madagascar and its riches, arrived in two batches: 2,000 to 20,000 ariary on 17 July 2017 and 100 to 1,000 ariary on 17 September. The 20,000 note was new. The bank said it was meant for large transactions, naming vanilla collectors and cattle traders, and for savings, with the 10,000 note left for everyday payments. It shows the Ambatovy mining project of the Sherritt company.
The colours were criticised on social media as lacking restraint. The bank answered that it had kept the base colours of the previous range. Printers in France and Germany make the notes, and every note except the 500 ariary is varnished after printing.
By May 2023 the iraimbilanja had practically no purchasing power and its coins had fallen out of use. The ISO list gives the ariary two decimal places all the same.
Common questions
Questions about the Malagasy ariary
Why is the ariary divided into five instead of a hundred?
The ariary and the iraimbilanja were names from the pre-colonial silver money, in which the iraimbilanja was an old coin worth a fifth of an ariary. When francs and ariary circulated together from 1961, one iraimbilanja equalled one franc and one ariary equalled five francs. The central bank's statute of 2016 keeps that fifth as an admitted denomination, although the coins have dropped out of use.
When did Madagascar stop using the franc?
The ariary replaced the Malagasy franc as the official currency on 1 January 2005. Both had been printed on notes and coins since 1961, at five francs to the ariary, and from 31 July 2003 new notes gave the ariary the large figure and the franc only small print.
What is on Malagasy banknotes?
The 2017 series follows one theme, Madagascar and its riches, chosen by the central bank to show economic activity, wildlife, culture and tourist sites across the six faritany, the provinces. The 20,000 ariary note, new in that series, illustrates the Ambatovy mining project, which the bank describes as a source of jobs and state revenue. The bank kept the base colours of the previous notes, a choice criticised on social media, and the security features include a watermark of a zebu's head.
Who prints the ariary?
Banky Foiben'i Madagasikara says its notes come from printers in France and Germany, in what it calls a very narrow international market. It varnishes all of them after printing except the 500 ariary note, which gets a laminated finish instead. Most of the earlier cotton notes had no varnish at all.